The influence of metallic surface topography towards adhesion of gram-positive & gram-negative bacteria

The presence of bacteria on metals is considered a serious source of potential contamination for domestic and industrial environments. Possible contributing factors to the formation of biofilm are related to the surface properties of materials used such as surface topography and hydrophobicity. Surface topography and hydrophobicity will be the focus in this investigation towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (S. aureus, E. coli and B. subtilis) adhesion. Modified surfaces of 316L stainless-steel and Ti6Al4V, titanium prepared by polishing, WEDM and laser-assisted technique and the as-received substrates were also considered in the study. The corresponding surface topography and contact angle measurement were assessed by Bruker Optical Profilometry and Kruss DSA, Germany. The number of adhered bacterial on metal surfaces was determined by O.D, CFU and Fluorescent Microscopy. Polished, WEDM and laser-assisted surfaces managed to mitigate bacteria adhesion as opposed to controlling surfaces but increased the adhesion of E. coli on both stainless steel and titanium. The introduction of laser-assisted technique using argon gas successfully combatted the adhesion of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, revealing the lowest adhesion for S. aureus and E. coli, surpassing those on polished surface and WEDM. The success factor was presumably contributed by the ability to suppress oxidation, while contours and nanograin surface effects prevent entrapments of bacteria whilst inducing an antibacterial property through contact killing mode

Visual Based Cart Follower Using Artificial Neural Network

A visual based cart follower can benefit as a helper robot. It can track and follow a wheelchair user without having any physical attachment between them. In addition, the low intensity of the surrounding light can affect the tracking performance too. In this study, the cart follower that equipped with all tracking component has been developed. The system was also integrated with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for good visual navigation. A colour tracking method being used for following task application with Pixy CMUcam5 camera. It gathered the information of the width, height, area, angle, x and y coordination of the colour pattern board which situated behind the wheelchair and translate this information into relative position information which enable the cart to follow the wheelchair. The activation function being used is saturating linear (satlin). The Field of View (FOV) of Pixy CMUcam5 is from 69.98o to 76.83o with vertical distance of 20cm to 150cm. The optimum target colour size for maximum distance 150cm is 98.07cm2. The distance from the top view shows that the minimum and maximum distance error is 0.40cm and 2.30cm while the maximum and minimum angle error is 5.30o and 21.30o from point P0 to P1, P2 and P3 respectively. The most ideal tracking condition is at 205 Lux since the error rate for each R, G and B value is the lowest. The final error simulation test shows that there is 0.65% and 4.27% of error in minimum distance 20cm and -15o angle while 1.93% and 5.57% of error in maximum distance 69cm and 30o angle. The overall test performance shows that the error occurred in distance is 1.62% meanwhile 5.39% in angle. As a conclusion, the tracking system for cart follower has been developed and integration of ANN has achieved its deserved accuracy with the final error test

Understanding the influence of human resource management practices on intention to stay: Evidence from Malaysia

The main objective of this study is to examine the relationships between human resources management (HRM) practices and intention to stay. Four dimensions of HRM practices are training and development, career development, compensation and benefits, and performance appraisal and achievement. All of these sub-factors were assessed as the predictor of employee intention to stay. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to technicians in several manufacturing companies in the Kulim Industrial Park, Malaysia and 184 questionnaires were returned and used for data analysis. Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analyses were done to assess the relationships of all the variables. The findings reported a positive and significant correlation of all HRM practices and intention to stay. The regression results indicated that 15.8 percent of variance that explained the employee intention to stay was accounted for by dimensions in HRM practices. Discussions elaborated on the importance each HRM practices in promoting intention to stay among the manufacturing technicians. Finally, recommendations and conclusion were also highlighted

Improved barnacle mating optimizer-based least square support vector machine to predict COVID-19 confirmed cases with total vaccination

Every country must have an accurate and efficient forecasting model to avoid and manage the epidemic. This paper suggests an upgrade to one of the evolutionary algorithms inspired by nature, the Barnacle Mating Optimizer (BMO). First, the exploration phase of the original BMO is enhanced by enforcing and replacing the sperm cast equation through Levy flight. Then, the Least Square Support Vector Machine (LSSVM) is partnered with the improved BMO (IBMO). This hybrid approach, IBMO-LSSVM, has been deployed effectively for time-series forecasting to enhance the RBF kernel-based LSSVM model since vaccination started against COVID-19 in Malaysia. In comparison to other well-known algorithms, our outcomes are superior. In addition, the IBMO is assessed on 19 conventional benchmarks and the IEEE Congress of Evolutionary Computation Benchmark Test Functions (CECC06, 2019 Competition). In most cases, IBMO outputs are better than comparison algorithms. However, in other circumstances, the outcomes are comparable

Our Place / Infanzah Qistina Irwansyah...[et al.]

The business is based on a partnership consists of 4 members. We have General Manager, Marketing Manager, Operational Manager, Financial Manager, and hiring Administrative Manager. We obtain our business capital majority from a loan from CIMB Bank and capital contribution from each of our manager, costing up to RM 200,000. We intend to set up business serviced-based with a name Our Place. We agreed to set up our business and commence it on 1st April 2014 at LOT 1-25, First Floor, Suria Sabah, JalanTunFuad Stephen, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Our business is mainly about giving the social space for the customers to relax and feel comfort plus having some fun. As many tougher competitions we would face in running our business, we include a special value in our service that is gives customer's need and wants at the same time achieved the targeted profit. We are mainly focused on customer's satisfaction and followed by the long term profits to do the business. Our marketing strategy is very important in purpose to diversify the business ideas and In order to determine business successful. Since our business was started from scratch, therefore we have to come up with ideas on how we can attract people interest and make a lot of profit. Besides that, financial management is important as a guideline for our company in order to start a fresh business. From the financial plan we can plan to minimize the expenses and maximize the profit in our business. It includes the entire of financial pan for department. It also shows the short and long-term financial and also the amount of capital that we need for this business which is by loan and cash contribution from the partners

Solvent debinding of Inconel 718 fabricated via Metal Injection Molding

The demand for components manufactured by Metal Injection Molding (MIM) has been increased due to a diverse range of applications on the high temperature mechanical properties and corrosion/oxidation resistance. Super alloy utilize the inherent physical properties of heat-resisting alloy based on iron-nickel, or cobalt specifically high purity and fine particle size distributions, which can enhance sintering and maximize the density of the final component. The development of super alloy Inconel 718 (IN718) using MIM is discussed. IN718 powder with binder formulation consists of polyethylene (PE) / palm stearin (PS) were mixed homogeneously and injected to produce green compacts. The binders then were removed through solvent extraction process from various heating temperature and duration of time. The binder removal was quantified by weight loss measurements and the evolution of pore structure for the debound specimens was observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Result shows that complete extraction of PS from the green parts can be concluded during 60 °C of heating and 6 hours of immersion in heptane

Gooseneck barnacle optimization algorithm: A novel nature inspired optimization theory and application

This paper introduces the Gooseneck Barnacle Optimisation Algorithm (GBO) as a novel evolutionary method inspired by the natural mating behaviour of gooseneck barnacles, which involves sperm casting and self-fertilization. GBO is mathematically modelled, considering the hermaphroditic nature of these microorganisms that have thrived since the Jurassic period. In contrast to the previously published Barnacle Mating Optimizer (BMO) algorithm, GBO more accurately captures the unique static and dynamic mating behaviours specific to gooseneck barnacles. The algorithm incorporates essential factors, such as navigational sperm casting properties, food availability, food attractiveness, wind direction, and intertidal zone wave movement during mating, creating two vital optimisation stages: exploration and exploitation. Real-world case studies and mathematical test functions serve as qualitative and quantitative benchmarks. The results demonstrate that GBO outperforms well-known algorithms, including the previous BMO, by effectively improving the initial random population for a given problem, converging to the global optimum, and producing significantly better optimisation outcome

Graphical User Interface (GUI) Controlled Mobile Robot

The advanced design and development of robotic technology in producing multi task are increasingly. In this paper presents about designing and developing mobile robot model that can be controlled using Graphical User Interface (GUI) via wireless protocol. This paper focuses on the control mobile robot by using the GUI as navigation control and the user can get a view an image and real time video on visual basic software. To address the problem of sired based control, XBee wireless communication circuit was used in mobile robot through a computer command. The development of this mobile robot consists of a chassis, a graphical user interface (GUI), XBee module, DC gear motor, camera, track wheels and microcontroller type PIC18F4550. Differential driving method using L298 circuit was used to control movement of the robot. In mechanical design, the wheel track has been used instead of conventional wheels to enable the robot to travel through different types of surfaces or rough terrain. In addition, wireless cameras was attached to the robot as a system of monitoring function. Finally, the robot will be designed to control wireless remote control that can control robots. Wireless remote control allows the user of an environment that is unsafe or dangerous device and evades wires or cables interfere with the movement of the robot

The effect of conventional and microwave heating techniques on transesterification of waste cooking oil to biodiesel

This research is focused on the effect of processing parameters such as molar ratio of sample to solvent (1:3 - 1:15), catalyst loading (0.5 - 2.5 wt %), temperature (40 - 80 C) and time of reaction ( 5 - 180 min) on the transesterification yield of waste cooking oil (WCO) in conventional thermal heating and microwave heating technique s . The analysis carried out revealed that the microwave assisted transesterification produced a comparable yield to conventional heating transesterification with ~ 5 times faster in heating up the reaction mixture to a reaction temperature and reduced ~ 90% of the reaction time required . This study concludes that microwave assisted transesterification , which is a green technology, may have great potential in reducing the processing time compared to conventional thermal heating transesterification

Using the barnacles mating optimizer with effective constraints handling technique for cost minimization of optimal power flow solution

Optimal Power Flow (OPF) solution is one of the active research topics in power system optimization problems. It is one of the complex non-linear optimization problems where the determination of economical and efficient operation should be done by obtaining the steady state of electrical components in power networks. Various metaheuristic algorithms have been utilized in the last decades to solve OPF. However, the constraints of OPF are normally solved by implementing the penalty function approach which require tedious trial and error to obtain the penalty function’s selection. This paper proposes the constraint handling technique namely superiority of feasible solution (SF) that integrated with the recent metaheuristic algorithm, viz. Barnacles Mating Optimize (BMO) to be implemented of OPF problem, specifically in cost minimization. The approach is tested on IEEE 30-bus system and compared with the other metaheuristic algorithm with SF approach too. From the comparison, it can be concluded that the performance of SF-BMO is better compared to others in terms of obtaining the minimum cost of power generation